Chapter 2
Ethan did not answer me and instead stared at Claire.
His eyes were also a little red.
The classmates were the ones who lost their composure first, crying out one after another,
“Lily, you and Ethan are married?!”
Claire also jerked her head up and fixed her gaze on Ethan, disbelief flashing through her eyes.
A few classmates laughed awkwardly again.
“Why didn’t you tell any of us? We’ve been classmates for so many years, and you two really kept us in the dark!”
“Yeah, unless… Ethan didn’t actually want to.”
“When Claire went abroad back then, he was heartbroken for a long time, and I heard he almost tried to kill himself.”
“Then wasn’t it only natural for Ethan to choose Lily?”
“Why are you speaking up for Lily? Everyone knows Claire’s family was too poor back then, and Lily basically took advantage of her when she was down…”
…
I ignored all those comments and only looked at Ethan, wondering when he would explain things for me.
He was the one who pursued me back then, and after we dated for two years, we had been married for three.
It was not like every first love who returned from overseas could pick up where things left off.
Besides, Ethan and I could be considered childhood sweethearts too, and I was the one who asked him to come with me to this reunion today, or Claire would not even have had the chance to see Ethan.
But Ethan, who sat beside me, remained silent, and I turned my face to look at him.
Too many emotions churned in his eyes: surprise, heartache, and regret that had been buried for years but had never faded.
Yet he still did not explain.
The atmosphere gradually cooled.
I pressed my lips together and put down my utensils too.
Could it be… that he really still could not let go?
I had almost forgotten.
Back in college, Ethan liked Claire so much that almost the entire school knew.
She always wore washed-out shirts, and her lunch was always just a single slice of bread.
Ethan found all kinds of ways to bring her meals, books, and contest prize money, and he even secretly stuffed his own allowance into her desk.
But Claire never appreciated it.
She returned the lunch box to him untouched and looked at him coldly.
“Keep your pity to yourself.”
“You’re no different from them.”
But Ethan still refused to give up.
It was not until the end of freshman year that Claire was finally moved, and they slowly became friends.
After that, during sophomore year, Claire suddenly disappeared.
She left without saying goodbye and gave no explanation, leaving only one note.
“I’m starting to hate you, so please forget me.”
Ethan chased her all the way to the airport, only to see the plane streak across the sky.
He broke down crying on the spot, and when he went home, he fell into depression.
It was true that I took advantage of him at his lowest point, pushed open the door he had shut himself behind, and pulled him back from the edge of the rooftop.
“If she doesn’t want you, I do, so what do you like about her? Her stubbornness? I can change myself to match.”
From that day on, I lived as another Claire Summers.
I learned the way Claire spoke, grew my hair long like hers, and even wore the white dresses she liked.
And my family’s business barely survived with the Carter family’s support.
When the Carter family arranged a marriage alliance later, I had originally planned to step aside tactfully, but he grabbed me and held me tightly.
That night, he cried and begged me to love him a little and not abandon him too.
“I don’t want to be abandoned again, so please marry me.”